Motivational Slump…Happens to the best of us!

Alright, alright…I said I wouldn’t do it, but I did.  I slacked off and found excuses not to run for the past 3 days!  I blamed it on the weather, my lack of energy and get this one:  I blamed it on my wrist, which I hurt while at work on Aug. 1.  Of ALL things to blame it on, my WRIST???  Since when do we run on our hands??  Wow, do I EVER need that proverbial kick in the a** to get back out there!  I have promised myself, however, that I will get out for a run later today because I truly do feel better afterwards.

It is hard when faced with the idea to run or not to run, to try to tell that tired body of yours to move, get up off the couch, put the remote (or PS3 controller) down, lay off the chips/pop/chocolate/ice cream and get out there and pound the pavement!  Run till you feel your legs burning, your lungs screaming for more oxygen, pump harder and harder till you reach your goal, whether it be to run for a solid minute, or to run an entire mile before you slow to a walk again!  It can be a small goal or a larger one, so long as it’s attainable for you at whatever stage of the game you’re currently at.  What I mean by this is, although it is great to aim for the sky, try having a multitude of smaller goals along the way to help guide you towards your ultimate goal, whatever that may be.  My ultimate goals are to lose about 50 lbs of fat, tone up my muscle and become a runner so that I may someday run a half and full marathon.  In order to achieve this, I have set smaller goals for myself to help me continue along on my journey.

Will there be bumps along the way?  Sure there will be…how many roads have we been on in life that have no potholes or speedbumps?  We will ALL be faced with personal speedbumps at some point or other along the way.  It’s how we handle these bumps which enable us to continue along the same route, or perhaps, find an alternate route.  The main thing is to pick ourselves back up from whatever emotional, physical or mental slump we might be in and get back out there.  Finding an alternate route might mean to you that instead of running for physical fitness, you choose another exercise.  For you, maybe your speedbump is like that of a friend of mine who used to run everywhere and everyday!  After suffering a knee injury (her speedbump), she now bikes for fitness and still walks a lot too.  Did she give up? No!  She took the time needed to heal, which is VERY important, then just took a step back, sized up the two forks in the road, and chose the one that would better suit her healing knee.

So, we dust off and continue on our way to fitness…we start small by stumbling through our first mile, gasping for breath, the brain screaming that our legs hurt and we must stop, but it’s mind over matter..we can retrain that brain to think positive, block out the burning in the legs, push harder and gradually our baby steps become giant leaps forward and before you know it, we’ve reached our first of many goals!  I have surpassed a few goals already….I can run almost 2 miles without stopping and this past New Year’s Day, I ran my first 5K run called the Resolution Run.  I had set a personal goal of 45 minutes, since I knew at some point I would have to walk a little.  I had not run for about 2 mths leading up to the Jan. 1 date, but still wanted to partake in this event.  Well, I surpassed my own expectations and finished the 5K in 39min and 34sec!!  I was so pleased that I vowed to continue running and bettering my time…but….the motivational slump occurred….and after being sick for a week and taking that week off running, well, let’s just say that I’m finally back now!  I seriously can’t let that happen again as it’s so much harder to convince your body to get back out there and it physically hurts to start over yet again.

As for me, I’ll be keeping you apprised of how fast I’m reaching my smaller goals and will attempt to keep the motivation high.  Until then, keep pounding the pavement, have fun and remember, set smaller, more attainable goals at first, which helps keep the motivation running on high octane!

 

Bike Patrol Rocked

Man, did I ever have fun the other night, working the Paramedic Bike Patrol at the U2:360 concert. We started off in the pouring rain, got soaked, but eventually dried, as the rain finally let up, just before the show opened up. I thought I would be too sore to go for a run last night, but as it turned out, I felt better after I ran. We had a long shift of biking the trails around the outdoor concert site, and after not biking strenuously for many years, to all of a sudden being out there and expected to exert yourself, well, my legs were screaming at me…but…it was sooo worth it! What an amazing show!

I did a 14 hour shift on the bikes, where the other guys and gal did only half that, but I didn’t mind as it gave me the exercise I needed and had been lacking for quite some time. At the end of the night, though my legs were feeling a little tired and shaky, I can say only one thing: Thank God for that chamois padding in my cycling shorts!!! LOL! It truly was the night’s ASS SAVER!!! I’m seriously thinking of getting out on my own bike more often, as I truly enjoyed biking at the concert and wouldn’t mind being a member of the permanent paramedic bike patrol team. I’ll keep you posted on that endeavor.

Yesterday, after only a short span of sleep, I worked a 12 hr regular shift on the ambulance, and although it was a little busy at first, things tapered off and by late afternoon, I hit the proverbial brick wall. Off I went to find coffee!! My legs and arms were starting to feel the slight soreness of a good hard workout, but again, I didn’t mind. I just didn’t want to end up too sore that I wouldn’t be able to go for a run last evening, seeing as I hadn’t gone running for 3 nights before the concert, just so I wouldn’t burn out my legs before having to bike so hard on hilly terrain at the site. My other concern was my lack of sleep…it’s so easy for me to just say “I’m too tired, I’ll go tomorrow” and as I have previously blogged, this statement always spells trouble for me, because then tomorrow ends up being 1-2 months down the road.

Well, I arrived home, tired, but still functioning somewhat, and managed to fumble into my running clothes, pull on my Vibram Five Fingers, fire up the iPhone’s music with my Nike+GPS app and stumble out the door with the kind female voice once in a while talking over my music to tell me how far I’ve gone, how many minutes and what my pace was at currently. I love this app because it does motivate you while you are out there, plus, it’s nice to know mileage, pace, time and the fact that your Facebook friends can like or comment on your run which is heard as a crowd cheering when it voices over your music.

Last night’s run felt great…my legs had that soreness of a hard workout, the air was the perfect temperature, I had my running hat holding my hair back, my music turned to the right beats and the volume wasn’t too loud, as I like to be aware of my surroundings, traffic, etc, especially on night runs. I only met a few people in my neighborhood who were out last night, either on their bike, walking their dog or just themselves. Someone had a little backyard bonfire going, because once in a while, the fresh air took on an acrid, smoky atmosphere, which aroused in me a sense of warmth, coziness, visions of roasting-marshmallow-and-weiner-fun dancing in my head as I pressed on with my run. My reverie was quickly disrupted however, as a harsh popping sound was heard above the sound of my music, echoing off the outer walls of the houses around me. And another one popped, then another, louder still. Firecrackers!!!!!!!

My run went very well, I was only aiming for 30 minutes last night, but ended up just a little over that goal. I ran for 1.5 km, walked for 0.5 km, then ran for another kilometer and a half or so, finishing with a grand total of 3.74 km, just over 2 miles, in about 31 minutes. I was drenched in sweat, arriving at home and drinking about a liter of water during my stretching phase, then relaxing a little before heading off to bed. I’m glad I didn’t use the excuse that I was tired to avoid running. I needed that time to unwind from work, to think and just enjoy the solitude of some well-deserved “ME” time!

Now the question that’s begging to be answered is, will I run again tonight?